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Doing business and art in wartime

RicaMare is a Kharkiv-based clothing brand with shops in Lviv and Kyiv. Despite the war, the company continues production, making clothes for customers in Ukraine and all the way to Italy, the US, Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Victoria, RicaMare’s executive director, speaks of her experience in business, creativity, fashion, and resilience in one of Ukraine’s major cities under constant Russian bombing.

What was it like for you and the team during the first months of the war?

Like most Ukrainians, we were in shock; we couldn’t believe what was happening. But almost the entire team and company remained in Kharkiv. It was important for us to stay so Kharkiv could live. We had a chance to move abroad. We didn’t. This is our home. We want to provide jobs, provide purpose, and support the community.

During the first weeks of the Russian invasion, very few businesses worked in Kharkiv. We felt an additional responsibility to stay here. It took some time to relaunch our manufacturing while the country was in turmoil. In the meantime, we turned to humanitarian work. We partnered with charity organizations. Made deliveries of first-necessity goods in neighborhoods. We eventually renewed our manufacturing capacity, and we now have nearly the same team as before the [full-scale – ed.] war. We still have shops in Kyiv and Lviv, we attend fashion and trade shows. We want to show the country how Kharkiv still resists and works.

What challenges has the business faced and how has it transformed?

Our manufacturing is a 3-story structure with a reinforced basement. It has suffered through bombings and power outages. Once, a Russian bomb hit the neighborhood, ripping the roof off the building and shattering every window. We had to rebuild almost from scratch. We used fuel generators to power production equipment during blackouts. Applied for some government funding programs to make this possible. The generators weren’t fully sufficient to power everything, so we found methods to run our equipment in turns, still preserving the manufacturing process.

The team has also endured a lot, in the basic human sense. Some of the employees have lived through Russian occupation and were liberated months into the [full-scale – ed.] war, during the Kharkiv counteroffensive. Four workers serve in the Armed Forces. We constantly help them with supplies. Many of our employees’ husbands are at war. The hardest part is not knowing, not having information about where they are and how they’re doing. We lean on each other for support.

Another transformation is that the company feels a lot more like a family now, including the clients. There were weeks when Kharkiv was being shelled heavily. People weren’t very eager to go shopping. Nearly empty streets. So, we helped our clients with online service, and we communicated a lot remotely. When few businesses are operating in a city under siege, business-customer relationships become closer and more human. Imagine that lone coffee shop working in your neighborhood despite the shelling. You become friends with its staff. It’s like that.

During the first months of the full-scale invasion, people from neighboring buildings practically lived in the basement of RicaMare’s manufacturing facility that doubled as a bomb shelter. We welcomed everyone we could help.

There’s a story that stands out in my mind. One of our clients left home with her daughter earlier than usual. Seconds later, a Russian missile struck their house. Among the few unburnt possessions was a suitcase with her dresses. These weren’t just clothes but memories: things she wore to weddings, birthdays, and graduations. She says she’s glad they survived the explosion. She’s a strong woman. Like Kharkiv itself. We helped her get a new wardrobe for free. She’s more than just a client now. These are the kind of stories we have these days. They are meaningful to us.

Have there been permanent changes to business in Ukraine?

Nothing is permanent except our adaptability. Things are always changing. Businesses face serious challenges in Ukraine. Whenever Kharkiv was being attacked by Russia more intensely, business activity would always go down. So, we focused on online sales in those periods. We want our clients to be safe, especially when the city is being bombed more heavily. We’ve become extremely flexible. Sometimes, you can’t plan for more than a day ahead. You have to be ready to change strategies at a moment’s notice. Every morning, you sit down, take stock of the situation, and decide how the plan needs to change.

Supply chains are also affected. Some important manufacturing materials have disappeared from the Ukrainian market, and some types of cloth that were always available are often no longer available. It’s really difficult to get shipments from international suppliers. For example, we need a specific kind of thread for production. It’s now completely gone from Ukraine. It took time and effort to find a replacement. There are many difficulties like these, big and small.

How would you describe the psychological state of the team? Of people in Kharkiv?

We have things that help us endure. It’s much easier to cope by helping others. It gives you a feeling of strength, community, and control over your own life. We’ve been working with charities to help orphans and elderly people. We made deliveries of vital medication while the city was being shelled. We had to use bikes to go around the city and bring food and medicine, as when the [full-scale – ed.] war began, there was a massive fuel shortage in the country. But we kept working and creating even during the toughest times. It’s what has helped us stay resilient.

Everyone here has been affected by the war. Saltivka [ed. – one of Kharkiv’s residential districts, almost completely destroyed by Russian strikes] is a very painful wound on the city’s soul. But everything has been hurt, and everyone. No part of Kharkiv has been left untouched by Russian aggression. Yet we’re still here, and we’re not giving up. The entire community understands how important that is.

We want to show the world that very strong people live in Kharkiv, in Ukraine. People who can create art, do business, and retain inspiration and humor, even in times of war. We put a lot of those feelings into our work. In our shops, in our fashion, in our customer service.

Do you talk about your experiences? About what it’s like living and creating during war?

Sometimes, it’s hard to talk about your feelings about the war. So, we speak with our designs. Ethnic illustrations, ancestral Ukrainian symbols, and verses of Ukrainian poets on clothing. We speak about hope and strength through the art of fashion. We have poems of Volodymyr Sosiura [ed. – Ukrainian lyrical poet, famous for his works “Swallows on the sun” and “Love Ukraine”] embroidered on our garments. We use Samchykivskyi patterns too, a type of historical national painting that was used to decorate houses in Ukraine. It usually features birds and floral imagery. For centuries, Ukrainians used it to ward off evil and bring luck to their homes.

Here’s an example: we have a hoodie that’s a new design, not fully released yet [ed. – Victoria pulls out a vibrant red hoodie with beautiful ethnic embroidery]. It’s embroidered with an ancient Ukrainian protection symbol. Exactly like our ancestors would draw to protect their families. So, the hoodie itself is almost a protection symbol. Every item of clothing we sell is special. We speak through these to our people. We translate our love and hope through what we do. I think it has made our designs even more deep. Art always speaks when words are hard to come by.

Clothes have become more than just clothes during this war. You can’t live through war and hardship and still see business as just business. We put ourselves into our fashion and art. Through our work ethic, our community efforts, and clothes that convey deep meaning in their design, we want to show the world that very strong people live in Kharkiv, in Ukraine. People who can create beauty, do business, and retain inspiration and humor, even in times of war.